David Sylvester

The mission of New Schools for New Orleans is to deliver on the promise of excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans. Our strategic priorities include talent, curriculum, policy, portfolio, and communications. Learn more at newschoolsforneworelans.org

Founded in 2000, The Idea Village formalized in 2002 as an independent 501©(3) nonprofit dedicated to engaging our community to embrace innovation, entrepreneurship, and new thinking. The Idea Village has established itself as a globally-recognized leader in developing place-based entrepreneurial ecosystems. As a result, New Orleans is now in the top 10% of best cities to start a business in the country (WalletHub), with startup activity 64% above the national average (The Data Center). Weve been called Americas #1 Biggest Brain Magnet (Forbes) and 1 of the 20 Hottest Startup Hubs in America (The Kauffman Foundation). The Idea Village is committed to sustaining the local entrepreneurial movement by providing direct services to entrepreneurs, engaging the community, and supporting initiatives that leverage entrepreneurship to catalyze change.

Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit, and Carlyle AlpInvest. With $477 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2025, Carlyle’s purpose is to connect people, ideas, and capital to fuel growth for companies and performance for investors. Carlyle employs more than 2,500 people in 27 offices across four continents. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security or product of Carlyle or any Carlyle-managed fund. Additional notices & disclaimers can be found here: https://www.carlyle.com/notices-and-disclaimers

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) empowers more than 23,000 directors to lead with confidence in the boardroom, helping world-class public, private, and nonprofit companies to navigate an increasingly complex business environment. NACD cultivates the professional development of its members through educational courses and events, published research, briefings on current and emerging issues, and strategic advisory services.

Long-standing and deeply-rooted racial inequities in our region have created stark disparities in educational, health and youth development resources and experiences. Together, we eliminate these disparities, creating conditions for better life outcomes for children and youth. Together, we design and build systems to drive positive change and build brighter futures for young people in our communities. Youth Invest Partners, formerly VPP+Raise DC, leads social change by making sustained investments in community organizations and spearheading partnerships between businesses, community members, funders, government, nonprofits and philanthropists. Through direct financial investments, and strategic assistance to strengthen organizational capacity, we have deployed more than $110 million to organizations serving more than 57,000 children and young adults in our region, leading to improved academic achievement, higher graduation rates and brighter futures for Greater Washington youth ages 0-24. Learn more: youthinvestpartners.org

3rd Gen Law Group LLP (formerly Fitzgerald & Rhodes LLP) is a specialty law firm that practices business and transactional law, serving clients whose sophisticated transactional matters require the quality and expertise found an AmLaw 100 law firms, but who recognize that most transactions do not require the substantial overhead embedded in those firms’ rates. From structuring sophisticated commercial real estate transactions to negotiating complex licensing arrangements to assisting in mergers and acquisitions, 3rd Gen Law Group provides its clients with professional, efficient, and cost-effective legal representation that ensures protection throughout all stages of the most important corporate endeavors. 3rd Gen Law Group LLP is a model of the new generation of law firms that provide high quality and responsive legal services at a cost effective price.

The mission of New Schools for New Orleans is to deliver on the promise of excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans. Our strategic priorities include talent, curriculum, policy, portfolio, and communications. Learn more at newschoolsforneworelans.org